Thirteen Stories of Halloween
by CasoraTigerKin
Summary: For the PxJ community Halloween Challenge. Angst, Humor, Friendship. Rated T for safety.
1. Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Arc I: Premonitions & Pranks

2. Black Cat

12. Graveyard

11. Treat

Arc II: Dark Memories

1. Darkness

6. Crescent Moon

7. Orange

Arc III: Crossroad Prayers

13. Thirteen

10. Fog

Arc IV: Autobots Go!

5. Costumes

8. Trick

Stand Alones

3. Ghost

4. Pumpkins

9. Spider Webs


	2. Arc I: Premonitions & Pranks Part 1

2. Black cat

Prowl blinked his optics slowly as he tried to dispel the fog that clouded his processor. As it cleared he almost wished it hadn't. Someone had placed a mirror in his room so that the first thing he would see upon awakening was his reflection. Judging by his current appearance he was certain that he could name the culprit.

10 minutes prior

"Ratchet, calm down. I swear I'll find and deal with whoever's responsible." Optimus Prime vented a sigh as he attempted to placate the angry medic. So far his day had not been going well and the sun was barely above the horizon. Being woken before dawn by an irate Ratchet, who claimed that someone had stolen a dose of sedatives from the medbay, did not rank high on his list of ways to start the day. As Optimus opened his mouth to once again reassure the medic that the culprit or culprits would be caught and punished; a shout shattered the early morning quiet.

"JAZZ!!" Normally this would have been ignored, as such shouts where a semi-regular occurrence, except for three things: the name being shouted, the identity of the shouter, and the malice behind the shout. Both mechs turned to look at the door from the living quarters as Prowl entered the room, shuriken drawn and murder in his optics.

Their optics widened as they took in his appearance. A pair of cat ears were affixed to his helm, a tail was attached to his lower back just above his aft, and his fingers now ended in claws. The coup-de-grace however was the jet black faux fur that had been somehow glued to every exposed surface of his armor. All in all Prowl was doing a phenomenal expression of a enraged black cat.

Optimus was in the middle of thanking primus that it took a marching band to wake Bumblebee up before noon when Ratchet commed him. : You go tell Jazz to make himself scarce. I'll calm Prowl down and get him cleaned up. : Optimus didn't have to consider before replying, : Deal. I guess we know who raided the medbay. : Ratchet shook his head Optimus sped out of the base, he figured Prowl would calm down once he offered to help get the "costume" off before Bumblebee woke up. He just hoped that Jazz stayed out of Prowl's reach, he really wasn't looking forward to the repair job that was certain to follow that encounter.


	3. Arc I: Premonitions & Pranks Part 2

12. Graveyard

A dim blue glow pierced the darkness as a mech moved slowly along the corridor. Normally said mech moved gracefully with a bounce in his step and a smile on his face plates, now the smile was gone and his steps were slow and somewhat jerky as if they were forced. In truth they were, for the mech knew what, or rather who, lay behind the door at the end of this particular passageway and whished with his entire spark that he could avoid this particular journey. Duty however forced him to continue, but as the door drew closer his steps slowed until he stopped inches from the door. He cycled his air through his vents as he gathered his courage, the slowly entered the code to open the door. The mech crossed the threshold and stared at the mech that lay within. Once dark coloring was now a dirty gray and the mech felt an intense stab of guilt shoot through him. Words spoken not so long ago flashed through his CPU once more.

_A strained and exhausted voice reached his audios, "Can't pull … anymore… fragments. Only… one …way."_

The mech dropped to his knees by the berth and envied humans for their ability to cry. Spasms shook his shoulders as grief enveloped him. He had promised himself that when the battle ended he would come clean, tell the other mech how he felt and hope for the best. Fate had had other plans, and now he knelt by the other's grave to fulfill that promise. His vocalize spit static as his whispered declarations of love and devotion fell on audios who could no longer hear. His voice grew weaker as emotional overload sent him into stasis, and as he blacked out he whispered, "We could have found another way."

When the mech slowly onlined it took him awhile to identify what exactly had woken him over the pounding in his head. After a few minutes he realized that someone was pounding on the door, the mech was determined to ignore them though. The mech outside seemed to realize this and changed tactics, yelling "Jazz, I know you're in there, so open the door. We really need to talk." Jazz was surprised to realize that the owner of the voice was the young prime from earth, Optimus. Giving up on being alone Jazz attempted to stand only to fall flat on his face. The noise was audible from the hallway and the door flew open to admit other mech. Jazz waved off Optimus's attempt at helping him stand before the young prime fixed him with a stern glare, "Jazz I'm here to give you a warning. I don't know how much highgrade you had last night but after what you did to Prowl I'd advise you to make yourself scarce for the next week or so." It took Jazz's fuzzy processor a few moments to sort out the other mech's short speech. When it did he asked the only thing he could think of "What did I do?" Optimus just sighed before replying, "Jazz, just go." The young prime then left, leaving Jazz to watch the door close behind him with two thoughts running through his processor, _Was that a dream or a premonition? _and_ Just what did I do last night?_


	4. Arc I: Premonitions & Pranks Part 3

11. Treat

Jazz looked at the door in front of him with trepidation. What had seemed like a good idea before now filled is spark with dread, it had to compete however with the guilt that was currently residing there. When the hangover had worn off he had gone in search of someone who could tell him just what he had done to his fellow ninja. He didn't have to go far before he was cornered by a highly irate Ratchet, who practically tore him a new one about the consequences of his prank. Apparently the faux fur and the other accessories had come off with a normal strength solvent. The glue he had used to attach Prowl's "costume" had been another thing altogether; it had bonded with Prowl's armor to such an extent that the medic had had to use an industrial strength solvent to remove it. Said solvent had not only removed the glue, but Prowl's paint and a layer of his armor. The dark ninja was extremely sore from the procedure and was now resting in his room. Jazz looked down at the box in his hands, then back up at Prowl's door. The box contained what he hoped would be accepted as a peace offering, but given Prowl's current state Jazz could only pray he hadn't completely ruined his chances with the other mech. Gathering his courage Jazz lightly knocked on the door.

Prowl hissed as he shifted, trying to find a less painful position. He'd been excused from patrol but that did nothing to improve his mood. When Ratchet informed him of the only way to get the glue off of him he hadn't quite realized how painful the procedure would be, and at the moment he would like nothing better than to murder the mech responsible. Prowl was in the middle of plotting the culprits painful demise when someone knocked on his door. Prowl briefly considered just ignoring it but decided against it, a conversation was as good a distraction from the pain as anything. 'Come in." he called looking over at the door. Prowl's expression soured as Jazz stepped gingerly into the room, "You," he growled. He was rewarded by Jazz's not quite suppressed flinch, and the other mech's inability to meet his optics. Prowl sat up slowly, clenching his teeth against the pain. "What do you want?" he ground out when the pain receded to a tolerable level. Jazz flinched again before holding out the box he held, "I…I wanted to apologize," he whispered optics firmly fix on the floor, "I did some research and I think these might help."

Prowl fixed Jazz with a glare but took the box nevertheless, opening it he found four highly polished stones. Confused he looked to Jazz for an explanation; the other's response surprised him, "They're healing stones." Prowl looked back down at the stones and Jazz saw his chance pointing at each stone in turn he named them, "Amethyst, amber, moonstone, and quartz. Humans say they help with pain. I didn't know what to get you for Halloween anyway since you don't like sweets. I'm no medic but I want to try to get better as quick as possible." Prowl returned his gaze to his fellow ninja, studying his expression and body language. Finding only fear, sorrow, and guilt Prowl sighed and his expression softened, "The holiday you where thinking of was Christmas, thank you." Jazz's optics darted up to meet his and he hesitantly asked, "You're not mad?" Prowl patted the berth next to him in invitation before speaking, "I am angry about your actions, but I think I can find it in my spark to forgive you. Oh, contrary to popular belief I do enjoy sweets every now and then." Jazz grinned and took the offered seat, "Is that so? Well I happen to know that Sentinel has quite the stash, tell me what you want and I'll go raid his room." Prowl returned the smile with raised eyebrows before giving Jazz a list.


	5. Arc II: Dark Memories Part 1

1. Darkness

It was dark underground and one of the two mechs trapped in the small space was trying desperately to ignore that fact, and failing miserably. _Its dark…I can't see…what if…_Prowl cut off that train of thought before it had a chance to go further, knowing that would only make the situation that much worse. If the other cyberninja found out that he was afraid…no…terrified of the dark, he could just imagine the other's laughter.

_It was dark when they came…_once again Prowl cut the thought off, unfortunately he knew that if they weren't rescued soon he was probably going to end up having a nervous breakdown…_Why in Primus's name had he agreed to explore this blasted cave system with Jazz in the first place?!...and why did Lugnut have to show up and attack us?!_

_---------------------_

Jazz leaned back against the wall, and glanced over at Prowl. The other ninja's behavior was starting to worry him but shockingly he didn't know what to help. He had tried to figure out what was wrong but Prowl had just snapped at him whenever he tried to ask. As the hours ticked by Jazz's worry increased as Prowl became increasingly twitchy. By now Jazz was sure that the dark ninja was terrified by the situation, more importantly by blackness surrounding them.

Normally Jazz would have made light of such a fear but one look at the dark cyberninja told him that such an approach would just make things worse. The beginnings of a plan to distract the other had half-formed in his processor when a sharp sound broke the near silence, "JAZZ! PROWL!" The shout had an immediate effect on the trapped pair, both of whom began calling back to their rescuers. It took nearly an hour for Optimus and Bulkhead to clear the rockslide trapping the ninjas, and when the final rocks were cleared to two ninjas where thrilled to see the sun once more. As they drove back to base Jazz kept a scanner on Prowl and vowed to find out why he was so afraid of the dark.


	6. Arc II: Dark Memories Part 2

6. Crescent Moon

Prowl sat in his tree and watched the moon. To any outside observer it would seem that he was the picture of peace and serenity. In reality his spark was heavy with tension and turmoil. It had been over a week since that disastrous spelunking expedition and Prowl had yet to get over it. One thing he liked about this planet was the fact that its moon kept the nights from being too dark most of the time, even though it was currently only a thin crescent its light was enough to keep the nightmares at bay. The downside of moon's current phase however; was that the thin band reminded him of another band, a visor to be exact. He was sure that Jazz now knew that darkness terrified him but surprisingly the other ninja hadn't said a word about it to anyone. Prowl was grateful for this, but the way Jazz had been watching lately him made him uneasy. Back on Cybertron Jazz had a reputation for being able to convince a mech to tell his innermost secrets. Prowl was determined to thwart him however as he had no desire to relive the day his world shattered.


	7. Arc II: Dark Memories Part 3

7. Orange

_The night was peaceful as the small youngling curled up in his femme-creator's lap with his favorite plush toy held tight. The two adult bots shared a brief chaste kiss before turning their gaze to the small form of their creation. When the mech reached over to rub his creation's helm a pair of sleepy blue optics opened and the youngling cooed softly, seeing this the mech's optics filled with joy. The femme whispered softly to youngling before standing up and carrying the small form into the next room. The scene didn't stay peaceful however, as the femme reached the youngling's bed there came a great ruckus from the rest of the house. _

_The youngling woke to the sounds of screaming and destruction beyond the door, before it burst open to reveal what could only be called monsters. The monsters were mostly brilliant orange in coloration with splotches of blue and red and their forms undulated and danced as if they were made of living flames. A pair of them rushed his femme-creator grabbing and dragging her into the other room, their touch melting her plating on contact. The youngling was frozen in shock as the rest of the monsters pounced on his creators and violently tore them to sheds. By now the flames had spread from the monsters forms to the rest of the room tinting everything orange, and the youngling cowered as the monsters turned their attention to him. The largest one's mouth twisted into a fanged mockery of a grin before it lunged for the youngling…_

Prowl woke with a start, covered in condensation and trembling uncontrollably. It took several minutes for him to calm down, and when the trembling slowed he knew he would have to deal with this somehow. He hadn't had that particular nightmare since had left the youngling centers. Prowl shivered at the memory of those dark, cold hallways filled with harried mechs and femmes who had no time to spare for a frightened youngling. Banishing the memory Prowl swung his legs over the edge of his berth and stood up; he knew from experience that he wouldn't get any more recharge following that particular nightmare. He moved to the center of the room and sank down to try meditating the nightmare away.

Prowl was so shaken by the nightmare that he never noticed Jazz's presence on the roof above him. The other ninja had taken to checking in on his counterpart after their caving incident but so far had never witnessed anything like the drama that had taken place just minutes prior. Jazz now knew that something was very wrong despite his fellow ninja's repeated dismissal of his concerns. The black and white swore then and there that he was going to find out the truth whether or not Prowl wanted him to.


	8. Arc III: Crossroad Prayers Part 1

13. Thirteen

There were thirteen sections of prayers in the Covenant of Primus; each section was composed of thirteen prayers to be recited thirteen times each. The dark mech recited them all as his hands moved almost franticly in a desperate attempt to stabilize the spark of the badly damaged mech before him. The mech had sent out a distress signal when he had first seen the destruction his home had sustained but he didn't know if aid would come in time. The older mech had been in stasis lock when he had found him and the mech was forced to recall every scrap of medical knowledge he had ever learned, pray that it would be enough. He had quickly become splattered with the other's energon as he stopped leaking lines, and reconnected wires. The mech never realized he was praying out loud, and had just uttered the final word of the thirteenth recitation of every prayer to Primus when he was suddenly pulled away from the other injured mech. He was aware of voices speaking and a pair of black and white arms restraining him as he struggled before a sharp prick at his neck dropped him into darkness.

Jazz glared at the medic as the black and gold form went limp in his arms, "What was that for?!" The medic returned the glare before replying, "He was hysterical. Nothing you could have said or done would have calmed him down and I need him out of the way so my team can see to Yoketron." Jazz's annoyance was replaced by worry at the mention of his sensei, glancing over at where two other medics were transferring said mech onto a stretcher, "Will he be okay?" "Judging from my preliminary scans he should pull through," the medic waved a servo at the mech now cradled in Jazz's arms, "He did one heck of a patch job. Do you have any idea who he is and what he was muttering?" Jazz glanced down at the still form before replying, "Given his model and paint job, I think his name Prowl and that he's sensei's current student. The last time I talked to Yoketron he described him to me. As for what he was saying I'm pretty sure he was praying in the old language." The medic shrugged before giving Jazz a pointed look. Jazz huffed before resignedly replying, "I know when I'm not wanted. So I'll get out from under your peds. I'm gonna go see if I can get Prowl here cleaned up. Comm. me when sensei wakes up." The medic nodded distractedly and Jazz left the room.


	9. Arc III: Crossroad Prayers Part 2

10. Fog

Fog swirled around the still form of a mech lying on the ground. Blue optics suddenly flared to life illuminating the area, the mech lay still for a moment before sitting up. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, and tried to figure out who he was, where he was and how he had gotten there. A name surfaced…_Yoketron_…the mech thought about it before coming to a decision..._My name is Yoketron…_when nothing else became apparent the mech decided that staying where he was wouldn't get him any answers so he stood up and looked around. Fog and mist cloaked the area in all directions to form a veil impenetrable to his optics. Deciding that one direction was as good as the others the mech began to walk forward into the fog. He wasn't sure how far he had been walking when his path was barred by the silhouette of another mech.

Somehow Yoketron found he wasn't afraid of the mech but nevertheless halted his steps. Seeing this, the other mech made an amused sound before speaking, "Not afraid of me, little one? Good, that makes my job so much easier." Yoketron was slightly offended at being called "little one" but decided not to press the issue in favor of asking, "Who are you?" the other mech smiled and replied, "I have been called many names, but that is not what is important. What is important is who you are." Yoketron frowned at this and replied, "I know who I am, I am Yoketron." The mech shook his head, "A name has little meaning if one does not know the history behind it." Yoketron sighed, knowing the mech was right.

A half remembered story crossed his mind and a dismal prospect occurred to him, "This is not the well of all sparks, is it?" The mech shook his head and spoke, "Nor is this the pit." Yoketron's confusion increased as he processed that statement, looking at the mech he asked, "Then where am I?" The mech smiled again and replied, "You are at the crossroads, the point between life and death." Yoketron started at this but before could speak the mech went on. "From here you have a choice, you may continue on into death or you may return the way you came." With these words spoken the mech receded back into the fog. Yoketron called after him, "But how will I find the way?!" The mech's voice floated back to him, "Listen carefully and you will know."

Yoketron forced himself to calm down; he knew panicking wouldn't get him anywhere. As he considered the other mech's advice he became aware of a voice echoing through the mist. It never rose above a whisper in volume but the emotion it carried was tremendous, from what Yoketron could tell the speaker was desperate. The mech's parting words flashed across Yoketron's cpu, and he desperately tried to identify the owner of the voice. A jumble of images suddenly flashed through his mind…_a slender black and gold mech, bike alt…temperamental and stubborn…student…my student…his name is...is.. Prowl!_ With that thought everything rushed back, but Yoketron paid his memories no heed as his student's voice crystallized and took on directionality. As the words clarified he realized with a pang that his student was praying. Yoketron didn't hesitate any longer than it took to identify the direction the voice was coming from, before taking off at a dead run. He felt he had just about reached it when the foggy world spun to black and consciousness left him. As the blackness lifted the first thing Yoketron was aware of was pain, every inch of him hurt. It took him several tries to get his optics to online and when he did he was promptly blinded by the light. It took a few seconds for his optics to focus, when they did they where drawn to form beside his bed. Black and white plating was topped by an expression of joy and relief.

Jazz's spark leaped as Yoketron onlined. Seeing the questions in his sensei's optics he was quick to reassure, "Take it easy, sensei. The medics tell me you're going to pull through just fine. You'll have to thank Prowl when he wakes up; he kept your spark stable till the medics got here. " Yoketron could only nod in response as he slipped back into recharge.


	10. Arc IV: Autobots Go! Part 1

5. Costumes

Sari bounced into the autobot's base with the look of a girl on a mission, not seeing her target in the main room she headed for his room. Peeking around the doorframe Sari's grin widened when she caught sight of the large green mech. Skipping into the room she called out, "Hey Bulkhead! What do you think of my Halloween costume? ", before spinning to model said costume. Bulkhead had turned to look when she called out and now studied her attire. Sari was wore a long sleeve shirt, a vest and long pants that where yellow with orange accents, white fingerless stopped just past her wrists. Her head was adorned with a red and white baseball cap, and she had a red single strap backpack slung over her shoulder. Attached to the backpack where several red and white spheres and she had a small yellow and black stuffed animal perched on her shoulder.

"You look great!" Bulkhead stated, "But what are you supposed to be?" Sari huffed in annoyance at this, "I'm a pokémon trainer! Can't you tell by my pokémon?" Sari pointed to her stuffed animal, "It's supposed to be pichu but I wish it was real." Bulkhead considered this before asking, "Why can't you get a real one?" Sari sighed, "Pokémon is a TV show so pichu don't exist." "Oh." Bulkhead looked sad till an idea occurred to him, "I could be your Pokémon! Prowl taught the rest of us how to use our holoprojectors, so I could make a holoform of a Pokémon for you." Sari's face lit up, "You would?!" Bulkhead grinned, "Sure, what pokémon do you want me to be?" Sari's grin got bigger, "I know the perfect one! Its name is smeargle, and it's an artist just like you."

It took Bulkhead only a few seconds to look up and create a holoform of the pokémon, but before Sari could comment a voice come from the doorway. "What are you doing?" Sari and Bulkhead turned to see Prowl looking at them in confusion. "I'm going as a pokémon trainer for Halloween and Bulkhead's going to be one of my pokémon. Will you go as one too, pleeeease?" Sari's face had acquired the pleading look that so far none of the team had been able to deny.

Prowl sighed and his optics dimmed as he accessed the internet, it didn't take him long to research the subject before responding, "I'll go on two conditions. Firstly I get to pick the pokémon, and secondly no accessories." This last was said with a pointed look toward to bowtie Bulkhead's holoform was wearing. Sari smiled as the ninja gave in without a fight, "Ok, let's see your choice." Prowl activated his hologram generator revealing a jet black pokémon with glowing gold markings. "Umbreon's definitely a good look for you," Sari said with a smile as Prowl deactivated the holoform, "I'll go find Bee and see if he'll come too." As she raced out of the room Prowl called after her, "Bee is on patrol with Jazz right now, so you'll have to wait an hour or so till they get back." Sari's, "Thanks Prowl!" was shouted over her shoulder from the hall.


	11. Arc IV: Autobots Go! Part 2

8. Trick

"Slag no." Jazz wore a look of horror as he reviewed the datapad, "I am not going anywhere as that!" The cyberninja's voice was a mixture of equal parts horror, terror, and revulsion. Bumblebee looked over at his friend with pity in his optics, his costume might be somewhat embarrassing but it had nowhere near the level of humiliation that Jazz's came with. "Jazz if I have to go through with this, so do you. Besides we already promised Sari we'd go, if you renege now she'll cry and you know how Ratchet get's when she starts crying." Jazz glared at the yellow bot before snapping, "Your costume isn't as bad as mine so you have no right to talk and threatening me with Ratchet is blackmail." Bee cringed at the malice in the other mech's voice but pressed on, "What do I have to tell you to get you to agree?" Jazz opened his mouth to respond but was preempted by a voice from above them, "I'm going." The two mechs started as Prowl dropped down from the rafters to join them. Jazz's ire decreased as he processed the dark ninja's statement, "Really now, how'd that happen?" he asked. Prowl sighed and replied, "She cornered Bulkhead and I yesterday while the two of you were on patrol," Prowl paused for a moment before continuing, "Actually she cornered me, Bulkhead volunteered." At this Jazz laughed, took another look at the contents of the datapad, and replied, "Well if you're going it won't be that bad. I gotta report to Magnus see you tonight."

Halloween 6:00pm

"You tricked me! You rotten son of a-_clang_" Jazz yelped as his rant was cut off by a wrench to the helm. "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE IN FRONT OF THE YOUNLING JAZZ!" Ratchet thundered from across the room before stomping over to the now cowering ninja. "It's not Prowl's fault that you didn't ask what he was going as and even if it was that's no excuse for that type of language. " Ratchet fixed Jazz with a glare, "Now, you made a promise and you're going to keep it. Do I make myself clear!?" "Crystal," Jazz meekly replied. But as the pink jigglypuff followed the pichu, the umbreon, and the smeargle out the door, it muttered "I still think he tricked me."


	12. Standalone 1: Ghost

3. Ghost

As battle raged across Detroit two mechs sat atop Sumdac Tower and attempted to gather enough allspark shards to protect their friends and the people of Detroit. Unbeknownst to them they were being observed; two mechs watched the scene with worry and fear in their optics. The taller of the pair was black and white with sweeping doorwings and a red chevron, the shorter was silver in coloration with headfins and a bright blue visor. Both were transparent and hovered a few feet above the ground. "They ain't gonna get enough, are they?" the silver mech queried worriedly. "I doubt it," replied the black and white. "We gotta do something," the silver mech stated, "I assume you have a plan?" "I do," the black and white agreed, "but I will need your help to pull this off." When his only reply was a cheeky grin the mech continued, "The extra energy the allspark will need to form the shield will need to be provided by one of us as the energy drain would kill either one of them, our young prime will most likely need to be rescued as he will likely be within the formed shield. Which do you want?" The silver mech consider the options briefly before replying, "I'm better at interacting with the living, so I'll save Prime's aft. Just be careful up here, 'kay?" The black and white mech nodded before returning his attention to the two living mechs, seeing one of them begin to glow he spoke, "It's time." The silver mech darted off the tower toward the two dueling mechs as the black and white rose up to place himself between the shards of the allspark and the now levitating black and gold ninja.

When Prowl couldn't reach anymore shards he knew what he had to do to complete the shield, in levitating up to allspark he was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. He had just started the process the something interposed itself between him and the glowing crystal. Prowl caught a glimpse of a mech before a fist connected with his chestplate, breaking his concentration and sending him flying. Jazz reflexes were fast enough that he was able to catch Prowl before he cleared the edge of Sumdac Tower and the two mechs watched in awe as the allspark emitted a powerful beam of light that surrounded the final clone.

Optimus was overjoyed when the clone was surrounded in the allspark generated shield. He was less than thrilled however at being inside said shield along with Megatron himself. When Megatron pressed him against the shield with the intention of taking him down too, Optimus felt the end was near. What he didn't expect was to feel a pair of hands grab his shoulders then find himself teleported near the ground _outside_ the shield in time to watch the clone blow. As soon as his feet touched the ground Optimus spun around, and managed to catch a brief look at his savior before the mech vanished. He didn't get a chance to wonder as the rest of his team arrived. All but Prowl were shocked at his story, and Prowl was cajoled into telling his tale. Ratchet cautioned them both against looking for mechs who in all likelihood didn't exist before herding them back to base.

The two ghostly mechs watched the fuss before the silver mech asked "Ya' think they'll have better luck then we did?" The black and white simply smiled.


	13. Standalone 2: Pumpkins

4. Pumpkins

"Disrespecting your commanding officer…" Snatches Sentinel Prime's lecture drifted up to the roof. Jazz and Prowl had long since given up on the pretence of sparring in favor of eavesdropping on the bots below. Sentinel had been lecturing Bumblebee and the Jet twins for several hours already and showed no sign of losing steam. The cause of the lecture was evident in the orange organic matter that was splattered over the blue prime's normally immaculate armor.

Apparently Bumblebee and the twins had seen a TV program where pumpkins had been frozen with liquid nitrogen before being dropped of a building. Naturally they had decided to replicate the experiment. The two ninjas didn't know where the three had gotten the liquid nitrogen but there had been enough to freeze a dozen large pumpkins. They had also decided that if dropping the off the roof was good then having Jetstorm fly them up to a thousand feet was even better. Unfortunately for them they forgot to clear the drop zone and the pumpkins landed just as Sentinel drove out of the base.

The prime was understandingly furious, however enough was enough. Jazz couldn't contain himself any longer and shouted down, "Cool it with the lecture S.P.! It ain't like they meant to drop the pumpkins on you. Besides it's not like they clash with your paint job!" Sentinel shouted back, "You stay out this Jazz! One more word and I…I…I'll have you court-marshaled!" At this Jazz completely lost it, and the ninja collapsed on the roof laughing uncontrollably.


	14. Standalone 3: Spider Webs

9. Spider webs

Pink silk webs glistened high among the treetops, but the spinner paid no heed to their beauty. Blackarachnia paused in her flight to catch her breath and to check for pursuers, when her scanners and other senses detected nothing she sighed with relief and spared a glance at the limp form she carried. The small mechs frame was dented and scratched and even though he was unconscious tremors wracked his frame. The femme knew she had to get Prowl back to his team soon or the poison that flowed through his tubing would kill him, the only thing she had to figure out was how to do it without being captured herself. The femme busied herself with spinning a web while she tried to come up with a plan, and upon finishing gently placed the mech so the webbing gently supported his body. Blackarachnia shook her head as she recalled how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. When she had first seen the bounty hunter she had hidden herself and let pass unhindered, but when he had returned carrying the battered ninja something in her had snapped. She wasn't sure why she cared about Prowl's wellbeing but she had a feeling it stemmed from the fact that the ninja for some unfathomable reason didn't see her as a freak. Whatever the cause she had attacked the bounty hunter, taking him by surprise and quickly knocking him out with her stingers. If her new venom work as she thought it would when Lockdown woke up he would have no memory of the last few hours. Judging by the lack of pursuit however, her venom had done its job. The web shook under her feet as particularly violent convulsion passed through Prowl's body. The techno-organic knew she had little time left when a plan crystallized in her mind. Blackarachnia quickly secured the ninja to her web before taking off through the trees at her top speed.

Jazz swore in every language he knew as Lockdown's trail vanished. He had been on patrol with Bulkhead when Prowl's distress signal had been activated, but they had been too late to stop the bounty hunter form capturing him. Jazz had commed the rest of Prowl's team and had ordered Bulkhead to wait for backup while he followed Lockdown. Now the trail was gone and he didn't know where to look. He didn't make it very far when he walked into an ambush. Before Jazz knew it he was bound and gagged by the decepticon femme's webbing. He was about to radio for help when he caught sight of the object in the femme's hand. Blackarachnia waved one of Prowl's shurikens under Jazz's nose and when she was sure she had his attention she hissed, "You will do exactly as I say if you want to see your friend to live. You will not contact with your team. You will follow me without asking questions and you will not try to attack me or try to escape. Do I make myself clear?" with that she peeled off the gag. Jazz could only nod mutely as the implications on the spider's words nearly stalled his processor; luckily Blackarachnia accepted that and cut the rest of his bonds before taking off through the trees.

It took all of Jazz's skill to stay with her as she ran but he managed, and when he saw the web high in the trees he knew they had reached their destination. Jazz leapt into one of the trees supporting the web and quickly ascended. Reaching the web he was horrified to see the femme sting his friend, but before he could react he once again found himself bound. He settled for snarling "You said you wouldn't hurt him!!" The femme was unaffected by his words and replied, "I didn't hurt him. The bounty hunter dosed him with something, I don't know what it was but my venom seems to slow its affects. I'll leave you with the antidote to my venom but you'll have to figure out the other antidote on your own." Jazz considered his options before nodding and quickly found himself free of his bonds. As he knelt by Prowl's side he couldn't help but ask, "Why'd you help him?" The spider shrugged, "Let's just say I had a score to settle with Lockdown." Jazz knew he wouldn't get any more out of her so he merely replied, "I'll give you a breems headstart before I contact my team, so you better get going." Blackarachnia transformed and sped off into the forest; as Jazz watched her leave he couldn't help but wonder for a moment about her true motivations before he activated his comm. :Jazz here, I found Prowl. Requesting medical assistance immediately. :


End file.
